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DPP, KMT legislators lash out at scandal-mongering

The recent spate of legislators making scandalous allegations without solid evidence drew complaints from other lawmakers yesterday, with some saying it was damaging their credibility.

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Yeh Yi-jin (葉宜津) urged KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to implement measures against his own party members who make groundless accusations.

"Legislators should bear in mind their ... responsibilities," Yeh said.

Some KMT legislators also expressed discontent.

During a meeting of about 20 KMT lawmakers on Monday night, KMT Legislator Hsu Shu-po (許舒博) said it was not necessary for the party to gain favor with voters by making accusations against government officials.

Ma yesterday called on KMT legislators to make sure they could provide evidence before making any allegations, but he said that restraining individual legislators should not be the focus.

"There have been a lot of corruption cases recently ... I am afraid that simply asking legislators not to make any accusations is not going to work," he said.

Ma, however, declined to confirm whether he would attempt to rein in the KMT's legislators, but he did say that if prosecutors found that the people who were the subject of the accusations were innocent, their accusers would face punishment.

Meanwhile, KMT Legislator Chiu Yi (邱毅) -- who faces a lawsuit filed by Presidential Office Deputy Secretary-General Ma Yung-cheng (馬永成) over a spate of allegations that he has made -- continued to attack Ma Yung-cheng yesterday.

"Ma [Yung-cheng] held a dinner gathering with Hua Nan Financial Holding Co chairman Lin Ming-cheng (林明成) and Fubon Financial Holding Co chairman Daniel Tsai (蔡明忠) on Sept. 20, 2001," Chiu told a press conference.

Chiu said that at the meeting at the Hachioji restaurant, Ma Yung-cheng had promised Lin that he would become chairman of Hua Nan Financial Holding Co.

Chiu on Monday said Lin had given Ma Yung-cheng a red envelope containing NT$2 million (US$61,671) at his wedding on Sept. 18, 2002, as a token of thanks for supporting him as chairman of Hua Nan Financial Holding Co.

Later that day both Ma Yung-cheng and Lin rebutted all of Chiu's accusations.

In a separate development on Monday, political commentator Hu Chung-hsin (胡忠信) accused the president's daughter, Chen Hsin-yu (陳幸妤), and her husband of using gift vouchers to buy items in Sogo department store.

Hu said he based his accusation on a text message that a friend had sent to his mobile telephone.

DPP Legislator Tsai Chi-fang (蔡啟芳) mocked Hu and his accusation yesterday by saying that a friend of his said that Hu had libeled the president because he failed to secure a post in the government, citing a text message as his evidence.

"According to this, Hu needs to make it clear whether he requested a post from the president, and whether he tried to influence the president's decision on selecting Cabinet members," Tsai said.

Additional reporting by Mo Yan-chih
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